Ghost Hunt: Midnight Souls
by LucettaPendragon
Summary: Follow the continuation of Mai Taniyama, a first-year high school student, as the adventure with SPR Continues. Continuation of where the anime left off.
1. Prologue: file 1

**Author's Note**

 **Disclaimer, I do not own Ghost Hunt. This is also my first story so, sorry if any of the characters act unnatural and please don't be too harsh. Later on, there will be some NaruxMai and other pairings, but there will be a slow build until then. Italic's are Mai's thoughts.**

* * *

File 1: The Crow's Head

Prologue 

Mai Taniyama works at "Shibuya Psychic research" or SPR for short, a paranormal investigation office. Every Saturday Mai comes in the office and does paperwork, by organizing the old issues of Psychic research magazines, previous cases, and scientific studies by date.

Looking down at her work Mai sighed, her head sinking into her arms to rest on her desk. Today was proving to be rather boring since they weren't working a case. "How long will I have to continue doing boring work?" Mai groaned, starting to drift into a daydream.

The sound of the doorbell ringing stirred Mai from her imagination, ' _it's a guest!_ ' The client who just came in was a young woman no older than 25.

"I heard that this where they do investigations on ghosts, but".

"Yes, that's right," Mai replied chipper, really hoping that her boss, Naru, will finally take a case.

The young women looked at Mai with surprise and a wary look, which is typical of people who came into the office since paranormal phenomena were still not widely understood by people outside of the field.

"What kind of situation are you in?" Mai asked gently, as she leads the frightened woman over to the sofa. In a timid voice, the women answered "It's about my school's sports team. . . th-they were possessed by an evil spirit. Can you help them?"

' _Oh, so it is about spirits_ ' Mai was glad that this case seemed to have some potential since her boss had been turning down cases left and right. "Please wait here as I call the boss." Mai knocked on Naru's door and called out ". . . Naru?"

A bored voice responded, and Mai opened the door to Naru, the director of "Shibuya Psychic research," reading a book at his desk. His deep, beautiful gaze fell on Mai and she felt her face heat up in response.

". . . A client?" Naru asked placing his book down on the desk. "Yes, it sounds like a group of students got possessed, while on a sports trip."

Naru frowned slightly. He disliked it when people unrelated to the paranormal field mentioned anything about spirits. Reluctantly, he stood up and joined Mai in the reception room. Mai grimaced, ' _Naru is in such a bad mood today, he's probably not going to take the case.'_

The young women sitting on the sofa appeared very uncomfortable, sitting close to the arm of the chair noticeably tense and pale. Mai was going to offer the women some tea when Naru walked calmly to the sofa, with his head tilted down slightly he spoke.

"Nice to meet you, I am the Director of Shibuya Psychic Research."

The women looked up in a daze causing Mai to jolt with a surprise. ' _I know it's surprising that a 17-year-old is the head of the office, but something about this case has set..._ .'

"Oh! I'm so sorry I never asked for your name. I'm Mai Taniyama, it's nice to meet you." The sudden exchange surprised the young women causing her to jump.

"Um, my name is Hana Ito-sensei"

"What are the details of your problem, Ito-san?" Naru spoke in a pointed and cold manner, caring very little about the women's apprehension.

"Umm. My school had a sports meet last month and during it, a teacher began to tell a horror story as they went through the Iwate-Ichinohe Tunnel. All of the students who listened began screaming, begging the teacher to stop, but the teacher went into a kind of trance and started acting weird. When he came back to himself all the students had collapsed and couldn't stop mumbling about a crow."

"What makes you think it was a trance?" Naru asked looking up from his notebook

"He just acted strangely." Ito-san quietly said

Naru sighed softly.

"Be more specific."

The women hesitantly lowered her head. " Oh... None of the students, nor himself could remember what the story was about just that they could hear a crow. Also, a few days after the incident he started to foam at the mouth and could not stop sweating and shivering, he died not long after. . . "

Mai gasped ' _H-He died?_ ' her face distorted in concern, as she raised her hands to cover her mouth. She remembered hearing of the strange occurrence on the news and it was the only thing her classmates were talking about, but not many details were known about the incident.

"Some of the students who listened to the story have fallen into a coma. This is serious, they could die like the teacher did." The women emphasized.

Naru's fingers entwined together as he pondered the situation.

"And you want the crow spirit to leave," he said presumingly. "In some cases like this that may not help the students afflicted."

Ito-san's face quickly turned to shock, "Wh-What else can we do to help them? They could die if we do nothing."

Lifting his head, Naru looked up at her.

"My apologies but I cannot help you. Whether or not they are possessed or experiencing some form of mass hysteria I cannot say, but I do not like taking highly publicised incidents. . . I suggest you have them looked at by a doctor." He responded as he stood up.

Ito-san let out an undignified scoff, but Naru didn't take notice. He turned towards Mai and in a low voice

"Mai, please escort Ito-san out."

"But… Are you not going to help the students? Can't you at least recommend her to someone else?" Mai asked unable to hide her frustration. Without turning around, Naru continued to talk to his office.

"Um, boss! I'm talking to you, you could at least respond, you jerk." Mai crossed her arms and had started to pout at the lack of response.

Naru paused before turning around, he looked at Mai with a different expression in his eyes. Mai blushed under her boss' gaze, but held her ground on the issue ' _Someone had to help them_.'

"Mai, Tea." Was all Naru said before walking into his office and closing the door, leaving a baffled and flustered Mai.

"Naru! You jerk! Why don't you ever try to listen to me for a change?" Mai yelled as she pointed at the door in frustration. ' _...Okay, this isn't good. Naru isn't going to listen to a word I say_.' Mai only turned back to Ito-san when she hears a muffled giggle come from the woman.

"Sorry. . . Things here can be a little different." Mai said with a blush spread across her cheeks at the fact that she had just yelled at her boss in front of a client.

The Ito-san laughed bitterly. ". . . If only your boss would come and see the students, then he could see how terrible it is!"

Mai smiled gently ' _. . . I was thinking the same thing, but Naru is so stubborn._ '

"Unfortunately in this office, the director doesn't like handling cases that have a lot of attention. I'm terribly sorry." Mai bowed low and looked at the floor with an unsatisfied look.

Looking up Mai couldn't help but to notice that Ito-san looked anything but pleased. But there wasn't much Mai could do Naru only liked taking cases that he deemed important enough to drag all the equipment there, and keep them busy with the investigation.

Mai sighed before taking out a piece of paper and a pen. "Um, I think your case is interesting," she said in a small voice. "How about you give me the school location and the place of the incident so I can write up a report of your problem. We might look into it when there is less attention on the case."

Ito-san face brightened up, "Really?"

"Yep, but I can't guarantee it," Mai said as she hanged the women the pen and paper. Ito-san eagerly began to scribble down the information and looked up to Mai.

"I don't know, how much I can do to convince the owner of the tunnel, but," as Ito-san spoke her voice began to quiver. "I-I'll do everything I can to convince him t-to handle the media away from the site."

Afterward, Mai saw Ito-san out the door, ' _Hmm, the students are the same age as me._ ' Mai thought sadly as she carefully folded the piece of paper and placed it into her pocket.

"Mai, Tea!" Naru called out again, knowing full well his assistant had forgotten the only thing he said to her. Mai groaned out in frustration having momentarily forgotten about her worry of the students.

"I'm getting your tea, you Narcissist!" Mai called out and then carried on with rest of work for the day.

* * *

Sometime later someone opened the office door, much to the surprise of Mai since SPR was going to be closing soon. In the doorway stood a middle-aged male, who appeared to be out of breath.

With great difficulty, the man introduced himself "Hello, I'm Natsu Saito. I am the owner of Iwate-Ichinohe Tunnel."

Shocked, Mai paused for a moment before introducing herself and bowing, 'I didn't think we would have more people come in about the tunnel' looking up at Saito-san, Mai's eyes widened, the man was looking at her with a look of arrogance and superiority.

"I came here for a serious problem," Saito-san said as he passed Mai not sparing her a second glance."Where is your boss?"

Hearing the commotion Naru came out of his office and looked at Mai with an indifferent look. ". . . A guest?"

With an arrogant expression, Saito-san looked from Naru to Mai. "Can I speak to the person in charge?"

Facing the man, Naru with eyes as cold as ice with an expression that would stop anyone from talking, calmly stated. "I am the manager, Shibuya."

The man paled, becoming expressionless and speechless. Mai sighed, this was proving to be the normal response from clients when they learned that Naru was in charge. Looking up, Mai made eye contact with Naru, her face flushed in response and with a mocking smile, Naru led the man and Mai, who now bared the same expression over to the chairs.

Saito-san bowed to Naru who was sitting opposite to him. Naru was clearly in a bad mood and especially since the client had come in close to closing time. Mai whispered that she was going to make some tea, and quietly excused herself. 'Why is so tense in there? I thought I was going to die from the glare Naru is giving.' Once she had finished making the tea, Mai reluctantly walked back in and handed out the cups seeing that the staring match had continued.

". . . Is something troubling you?" Naru asked in the same angry tone he had used earlier. Natsu Saito lowered his head, not daring to look up at Naru, not that Mai could blame him she was also looking anywhere but there.

"...Well, I'm sure you have heard about some of the strange things that have been happening in a train tunnel I own," he admitted. "I have discussed with some of our shareholders and we decided to seek outside help." Saito-san finally looked up at Naru "We believe the train tunnel to be haunted and would like your team to investigate the matter." Naru looked down at his notes indifferently.

"Please accept our request." He bowed deeply.

Mai glanced over to Saito-san, _'Huh, I guess Naru's glare earlier straightened this guy out, he looks so defeated now. But what kind of case are we getting ourselves into?'_ Mai began to tremble lightly and sneaked a glance at Naru. His pale fingers were pinched together, resting on his knee.

"Regarding this situation, I have already refused another group who came in discussing the same issues about the school students." Saito-san looked directly at Naru.

"Knowing that you have rejected the teacher who came in, I ask you to reconsider, " Saito-san's fingers began to fidget and he looked away for a moment.

"The situation has gotten rather serious. Our trains are going to lose business and. . ." He looked up. "The incident has occurred again." Mai gasped, covering her mouth ' _Oh, no. More students are going to end up hurt or worse_.'

"If it's about the money, then rest assured that your team will be adequately compensated for your time and expertise." Saito-san retrieved a piece of paper from his breast pocket and handed it Naru. Naru took the paper, glanced at it and then placed it on the table.

Naru sighed and took a moment to consider before replying, "To tell you the truth, I am interested in the incident that occurred in the Iwate-Ichinohe tunnel. However, I would prefer to not deal with the media's attention."

"I understand where you are coming from. With the situation being how it is, there are many people asking questions and taking an interest in what occurred," Saito-san replied thoughtfully. "But with the situation being as troubling as it is I truly hope that your team can resolve it as soon as possible. Currently, there are many horrifying rumors that are being spread and I am feeling very unsettled by it."

Saito-san glanced at the paper that was lying on the table.

"The shareholders and I decided that with the atmosphere being gloomy we had little choice but to pursue this option at any expense necessary," Saito-san cleared his throat and leaned forward. "As for the media, we want this matter to get no more attention and will ensure that you have no contact with them."

With this, he Bowed yet again. "We really need your help. Please, assist us in resolving this matter.

Naru was deep in thought.

Mai was sitting on the side feeling anxious; ' _Please agree to help them fix everything_.' Mai glanced over to Naru but decided to keep quiet since Naru isn't the type to listen to anyone or change his mind.

Naru closed his eyes and thought about the case; Mai quietly observed Naru with pleading eyes, hoping he would take the case. Before long, Naru looked up and turned towards Mai, causing her to lightly blush having been caught staring at her boss. Looking to Saito-san, Naru coldly replied.

"We will take the case." Standing up Naru returned to his office.

Mai's heart flew with happiness ' _Yes! Just like that, we have a case to work._ '


	2. File 1: part 1

File 1: Part 1

* * *

September 21: Sunday

This time to investigate Iwate-Ichinohe tunnel had begun and the severity of the situation was not lost on Mai. 'Something about this case doesn't feel right. I can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.' Sitting on the sofa, Mai let out a groan, "Why can't we ever get cases at nice places?" Leaning back, Mai shifted her body to find a more comfortable position, 'It's not that tunnels are always eerie places or anything, But…'

"If you are done fooling around, help load the van." Alarmed Mai bounced up and twisted towards her boss. "Why don't you make any sound when walking instead of popping up like an evil genie?" She shrieked out, startled from the sudden encroachment of her thoughts.

With a feigned innocent expression, Naru shrugged before continuing to carry a box to the van. Resigning to her fate, Mai gathered up some of the leftover supplies and made her way outside. Once all of the supplies had been packed, Mai hesitantly climbed into the van to begin the journey to Iwate-Ichinohe tunnel. Sitting in the car was proving to be rather boring for Mai and it didn't take long for her to feel the familiar lull of her body, drifting her into a dream.

* * *

 ** _Mai dreaming_**

 _Opening her eyes, Mai was surprised to find that she was slowly falling into a baren space. Straining her eyes, she looked out into the remote, desolate area, Mai couldn't shake the feeling that someone else was there with her. '. . . Who is it?' Slowly as she turned her head, searching the area; her eyes landed on a gloomy figure, cloaked in darkness._

" _Naru?" she whimpered out, slowly backing away from the figure. Standing there, clothed in black - a pale face emerged with warm eyes and lips curved into a smile._

" _Naru!... What's wrong? Why are you standing there?" A sense of relief washed over Mai, as she began to walk towards Naru. His face quickly writhed in anxiety and soon fell solemn as he stood there trying to vocalize something._

' _Wh-What is he saying?' Mai hesitated, 'Why can't I hear him?' Gazing into Naru's eyes, Mai found herself absorbed in the moment. A light flush had spread across her face but was soon replaced by the eerie sound that broke the silence._

" _. . . Caw. . ."_

 _Mai froze, her skin paled and she broke into a cold sweat._

" _. . . Caw. . . "_

 _Da-dum. Da-dum. Da-dum._

" _. . . Caw. . . "_

 _The sound was hoarse and rattled the air._

" _. . . Caw. . . "_

 _Da-dum. Da-dum. Da-dum._

" _. . Caw. . ."_

 _It grew closer, daring her to turn around._

" _. . Caw. ."_

 _Mesmerized, Mai started to turn around to face the source of the sound. As she did, a sudden commotion stirred Mai from the noise._

" _. .Mai!" Looking back Mai saw Naru's face was distorted with concern, he seemed anxious about the visitor. The last thing Mai saw before waking up was Naru mouthing the word "Dangerous."_

* * *

An abrupt jolt, shook the SPR van, waking the young girl. Panting, Mai found herself struggling to take in deep breathes. She frantically looked around, still feeling the lingering fear of the visitor in her dream.

Naru was looking back at her with an incredulous expression before speaking, "Mai, stop messing around."

Looking up, Mai gulped, they had arrived at the tunnel.

The front of the tunnel was littered in red and white flowers with elongated slender petal-like parts. The lights flickered, casting an ominous, dire glow throughout the tunnel. Mai shivered, walking to the side of the tunnel to a lone trailer, she heard the hiss of the wind going through the tunnel, clutching to the scattered pieces of ragged paper and other debris, swirling them into the air, only to drop them somewhere in the void of the tunnel. All signs of life had vanished from the tunnel, any source of warmth it may have carried had long gone out.

"Mai, if you are done wasting time, why don't you come out of the van so we can continue with this investigation." Naru's cold retort and frigid glare brought Mai back to her senses.

Furious, Mai ran over to where Lin and Naru were greeting one of the workers of the tunnel. The man's attitude was terrible and he didn't bother acknowledging the group's greeting. Leading them into a trailer, it became evident that the trailer had been moved there for the purpose of their investigation. The inside was in sections, with a ceiling light that hung limply in the stagnant air. Fragments of plaster lied damply over untrodden floors, the cold seeping in through the cracks in the window. Mai tried her best to not look disgusted by what was going to be her group's base but unfortunately failed to hide her dislike of the trailer.

The worker sat in an office chair, his attitude was incredibly arrogant, his tone was especially impolite. Although his boss had requested SPR to do an investigation, he did not appear to trust them and made no effort to hide this from them.

"Your the head of this little 'ghost' group?" asked the worker, pointedly at Naru with venom laced in his words.

' _How can one person be that rude to people he just met?' Mai fumed at the sight of the man_ , who showed very little care for how he was treating the group. ' _Why isn't Naru letting this Jerk, have it.'_

The worker looked judgmentally from Naru, Lin, to Mai - "All this commotion over some people trying to capitalize on spirits - There's nothing here but money grabbing nonsense." - and flung out such a hateful line.

'This Jerk! Who does he think he is?' Mai glared at the man and then shot her gaze to Naru, wondering when he was going to do something about this rude man. The worker seemed to follow Mai's gaze and settled his eyes on Naru.

"How old are you anyway?", he asked.

"Seventeen," Naru responded without looking up from his notes.

"Why aren't you in school then?"

"I will leave that to your imagination."

The worker snorted in laughter and turned his head away, a hate-filled expression was plastered on his face as he began to leave through the trailer's door.

"Belief in the supernatural is a gimmick, people like your group and that school are just trying to take advantage of people for no good reason other than not being able to work in a reliable job."

"If you have an issue with us being here, take it up with your boss, Saito-san. He was the one who hired us after all." Naru replied with a poisonous tongue.

Caught off guard, the worker mumbled to himself as he finally left the trailer. ' _Ha! Serves you right.',_ Mai watched as the man's figure retreated to his car.

"Naru, why didn't deal with that jerk earlier when he was saying all those horrible things." Mai had turned to face her boss, flustered with anger and looking at him quizzically.

"Mai, shouldn't you go help Lin with the equipment?" Naru said as he took a seat at the desk.

"Hmm. You didn't answer my question." Mai turned around and saw Lin had at some point gone outside and was opening the Spr van.

"There is no point in dealing with people like that." Naru swirled away from Mai and began reviewing the case file.

"Are the others going to be joining us for this case?" Mai asked as she opened the door of the trailer and began walking outside.

"They should be here shortly."

Passing the trailer door, Mai felt arms wrap around her shoulders and pull her close, crushing her in the process. Struggling to look up, she saw that it was Bou-san pulling her into a warm embrace.

"Hey, Mai, long time no see." Bou-san released Mai and began to ruffle her hair but was quickly stopped by the impact of a purse.

"Honestly, Bou-san you shouldn't assault the poor girl like that." Ayako-san pulled Mai away from the monk and began to pat her hair down.

"Hey, guys! I didn't think you would get here so soon." Mai exclaimed, happy to once again be with her makeshift family. "You are just in time to help us set up the equipment,"

* * *

Two hours later, all of the supplies had been brought in from the van and the base was starting to be set up properly. John had shown up a little later than the rest of the group but quickly lent a helping hand in carrying the equipment in. Once the base was set up John and Ayako began to take the temperature within the tunnel while Bou-san and Mai started to set up the cameras. The tunnel had at one point been a train stop but it was no longer in use.

"Doesn't this tunnel seem suspicious, Bou-san?" Mai inquired, searching the dimly lit area for a tangible reason for her feelings.

"Not really, do you jou-chan?" Bou-san looked down, ruffling Mai's hair, "That's the last of the cameras for the inside of the tunnel, let's start with the old train stop."

Mai nodded her head, she felt like she couldn't breathe, her heart was racing and all she wanted to do was get out of the tunnel. "R-Right," grabbing a few cameras and Mai began to walk towards the side of the tunnel, climbing up onto the train platform. Bou-san watched Mai for a moment, before quickly following her up onto the platform.

". . .Caw. . ." Mai spun around searching the tunnel for any sign of the source of the noise. She felt the need to move as if her limbs were urging her to run out of the tunnel.

"What's wrong Mai?" Bou-san inquired with a mild apprehension in his voice.

"D-Did you hear that?" Mai continued to search the tunnel sparing Bou-san a fleeting glance.

". . . Caw. . ."

"There is was again! Please tell me you hear that." Mai searched Bou-san's eyes but he only looked concerned for her.

"Mai, I didn't hear anything. Are you sure you are okay?" Bou-san stepped closer towards gently taking the camera in her arms. "

"I know I heard something!" She shouted, drawing back from her friend.

"Look, I didn't say it was nothing, just that I didn't hear it. We only have one camera left, why don't we finish up quickly so we can head out of here." Mai nodded her head and continued to the next place for the camera.

". . .Caw. . ." Carefully gazing around the area Mai saw nothing and when she turned towards Bou-san he gave no indication that he had heard it this time either.

' _Maybe, I'm just imagining it, after all, Bou-san didn't hear it.'_ After the last camera had been set up Mai and Bou-san exited out of the tunnel and joined the rest of the group

* * *

The base had been fully set up, Naru and Lin were sitting at the monitors watching the screens. Mai began handing out cups of tea, before sitting down with the rest of the group. Naru looked at Lin and nodded his head, before turning around to address the group.

"Lin and I are going to go interview the victims, while we are away I want Mai to watch the monitors while the rest of you perform exorcisms at these points." Naru handed Bou-san a piece of paper then drank the rest of his tea, standing up he and Lin-san exited the trailer.

"Aw man, Right when I thought we would get a break he starts ordering us around again," Bou-san whined leaning back into his chair.

"I don't know what you are groaning about, this is clearly the work of an earthbound spirit. I will have it gone in no time." Ayako stood up and walked out the door, quickly followed by John who was laughing uncomfortably and Bou-san who had a new found determination to prove her wrong.

Mai sighed, grumbling to herself she sat down in front of the monitors. ' _I hate monitor duty; It's so boring!'_ Time seemed to slow down, the trailer now felt emptier. Leaning forward against the table, Mai carefully examined the screens watching as her friends performed their rituals.

' _I wish I could do something to help,"_ Mai drowsily began to yawn, resting her arms on the desk, her eyes began to flutter closed. ' _Naru is going to kill me if I fall asleep so soon after he left.'_ Lightly slapping her face, Mai looked back at the screens.

At the corner of the screen, a young girl appeared who looked to be about Mai's age. She was dressed in a formal school uniform, her long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Mai's eyes were drawn to watch her, as she walked forward towards the opening of the tunnel. There was something about her that felt unnatural and out of place as if she was barely aware of her surroundings.

". . .Caw. . ."

Mai's eyes watered and enlarged, the hairs on the nape of her neck stiffened. Two more students had appeared walking towards the tunnel, ' _No, this can't be happening. I have to stop them.'_ Mai jumped up from her seat but she found herself unable to take her eyes off of the scene unfolding in front of her.

The first girl she saw appeared to fumble, as she made it to the entrance of the tunnel, she froze and began to shake. One by one each of the three students' legs began to tremble, their faces contorted in pain. Their backs arched, clenching their jaws their breathing became shallow; their skin turned pale and at last, they were able to cry out in pain.

"The crow! The crow!" Their voices were like nails dragged over rocks; rising and falling in unison. Their mouths were stretched wide in an eternal cry.

Mai rushed outside, throwing open the door of the trailer she looked at the entrance of the tunnel and saw nothing. She ran forward, her ears still ringing from the wails of the students' cries.

"Where are you?!", Mai howled, running to the opening of the tunnel. "Please, answer me!", her back was facing away from the tunnel as looked around searching the area for the missing students.

"Mai!" Spinning around Mai came face to face with the stressed expressions of Bou-san, John, and Ayako.

"I saw three students come to the tunnel," Mai staggered forward clutching Bou-san's shirt "we have to find them!"

"Okay, Mai we will help you look for them." John had stepped forward towards Mai and gently placed a tender hand on her shoulder. Scanning the tunnel, the group could find no sign of the three students Mai had seen. Pleading with them, Mai continued to search at the entrance of the tunnel, her eyes darting wildly with each passing second.

"Mai, are you sure that you saw students out here?" Ayako walked over to the young girl and gently placed her arms on the girl's shoulders. "I know what I saw, Ayako.", animosity was laced in the girl's voice, "I was watching the monitors. The monitors! They will be on the recording."

The group began to make their way back to the base when the familiar sight of the Spr van pulled in next to the trailer. Naru stepped out and with a cold glare, tailored in irritation, he addressed the group.

"What are you doing?", Naru's tongue was poisonous, he was not in a good mood. "I thought I told you to perform exorcisms while Lin and I were out."

"We were Naru, but Mai saw three students trying to enter the tunnel." Bou-san said while clearing his throat, " We were about to check the camera footage when you got here."

Peering at Mai, Naru turned and walked into the spr base, with the rest of the group following closely behind. Sitting in front of the monitor, Naru opened up the video file of the last two hours. Mai held her breath, unsure if she wanted to see the scene unfold in front of her again.

The footage showed Bou-san, Ayako, and John walk into the tunnel and reappear in other monitors in the base. As the video continued, Mai's stomach turned, the cameras had captured none of the incident that Mai had seen.

Naru placed his hand against his chin, "Mai, are you sure you saw three students?"

"Yes! I know what I saw." Mai felt her face heat up as the heavy, suffocating gazes searched her face.

"Tell me what you saw."

Mai proceeded to tell the group of the three students and how they cried out about a crow. John added that after Mai came out of the base that they had searched the area and were unable to locate them.

In a whispered tone Bou-san carefully made his way next to Naru "Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

"No, I haven't," Naru says deeps in thought, not bothering to look up at Bou-san.

"It's not uncommon for people to not be able to physically see ghosts, but the cameras should be able to capture them if they were really there." Naru turned his head and faced Mai.

"Are you sure that you saw something?"

"Yes! They were there, I don't know why the camera isn't showing it." As Mai spoke her lips began to quiver, her heart began to race, her lungs shallowly rose and fell struggling to take in deep breaths. ' _Why is everyone acting like my mind played tricks on me.'_

"H-how did your interviews go?" Mai asked really hoping to get the attention off of her.

Naru sighed deeply, rubbing his temple, "Unfortunately, a few of the students who were affected by the first incident have died."

Words seemed to have left the room, to be replaced by silence. Mai's eyes shifted to the side and became glassy. She blinked, scanning the room she saw similar solemn faces, biting her lip tightly to hide any sound from escaping her mouth; her heart sank.

A sigh escaped Naru's lips, his eyes now focused on Mai. "Hara-san is unable to join us for this investigation," looking up Mai made eye contact with Naru, "Since Mai appears to have a connection with the spirits I want her and Takigawa-san to do a walkthrough." And with that Naru rotated around and faced the monitor.

Bou-san and Mai walked outside, the solemn mood was still present as they began the walkthrough. "Mai, I know you are upset but try to get a feel for this place.", Bou-san smiled gently, making Mai feel at ease in his presence.

"I don't why, Naru thinks I can do a walkthrough." Mai sadly said as she continued forward. "I mean, how do we even know if what I saw was real?"

"Don't be so negative. Just try and reach out to get a feel for the tunnel."

"Bou-san, I don't know what that means. The only thing I have felt about the tunnel is fear." Mai conveyed with a slight quiver to her voice.

"That's still something, your instincts have proven to right in a lot of our cases.", Bou-san quickly responded, his eyes filled with kind reassurance. "Try reaching yourself out, look past the fear and see what is underneath."

Mai stopped walking, taking a deep breath as she closed her eyes. The fear of the tunnel was suffocating but Mai kept breathing through it until it ended. Opening her eyes, Mai felt a deep sense of loneliness to the tunnel as if many voices were crying out to be heard. A quick scan of the room revealed that Bou-san and her were not alone.

". . .Caw. . ."

"Bou-san, t-there is someone else here." Mai's voice was a soft whisper, "We need to leave." Mai tried to take a step forward but her foot ceased to travel forward, a small gasp left her lips as her arms flailed, she fell to the ground.

"Mai? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Bou-san was quickly at her side offering her a hand up. His muscles suddenly tensed, and his body knotted up at the realization of what Mai had said to him. He quickly pulled her up and the pair started rushing to the tunnel entrance.

". . . Caw. . ."

The onslaught of sound coming from the tunnel, was at first a distant cry but it steadily grew closer. Mai and Bou-san made it the entrance of the tunnel, where they were greeted by the sound of screaming. Searching for the sound, the pair's eyes quickly fell upon the red flowers. The sound of eerie whispers filled the air until a blood-curdling scream littered the air. Ghastly hands began to rise from the flowers, stretching out grabbing at them.

The ghost hands pulled Mai and Bou-san to the ground the scenery started to blur; that last thing Mai heard was someone yelling her name.


End file.
